


Start Again

by redcandle17



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 04:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5898607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redcandle17/pseuds/redcandle17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Catelyn takes the first step to restart her marriage after settling at Winterfell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Start Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [etoilecourageuse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilecourageuse/gifts).



She felt as though she could nurse her hurt and anger for the rest of their lives. But their lives were not their own. There was Robb to think of, and the castlefolk, and all the people of the North. They deserved nothing but the best from her - and from Eddard Stark. 

Determined to do her duty, Catelyn forced herself to dine at the high table that night and to make conversation with her lord husband. “The maesters say it will be spring for true soon.”

The year of the false spring had led only to heartbreak and death. She could only hope that the true spring would bring with it joy. 

“So I have heard. Regretfully, my lady, I must tell you that it snows here in the North even during the spring and summer seasons.”

Brandon had told her as much. He had made it seem exciting and adventurous. And he’d promised to keep her warm… 

However, the prospect of a spring that was only a little less cold and snowy was not comforting to Catelyn. Her lord husband had not come to her bed since her arrival here, and while she was relieved that he would not force her to do her wifely duties when she did not feel like doing them, she was also hurt at what she perceived to be evidence of his mourning for the woman who had borne his bastard. 

Whether that woman had indeed been the Lady Ashara of Starfall or a common whore, Catelyn decided that she would not allow it to matter. Lady Ashara was dead, having thrown herself into the sea, and a whore was easily forgotten. She, Catelyn, was to be the woman who ruled the rest of Eddard’s days. 

She could feel her cheeks burning as she said to him, “I would not be displeased if you came to my bed, my lord.”

Lord Eddard looked shocked, and Catelyn worried that she’d displeased him by being too forward. But then he relaxed noticeably, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he gave her a tentative smile. “I am glad to know that, my lady.”

The bastard Jon Snow meant little and less. In time, Catelyn would perhaps even convince Eddard to have him fostered elsewhere. She was Eddard’s lady wife and the lady of Winterfell; she would not allow shadows of the past to keep her from her duties.


End file.
